Thursday, April 4, 2013

So today I have another great tour post to share with all of you. The Mirror of The Moon is a great book and I have a guest post from the author. I also have a great giveaway for you to enter if you would like. Enjoy!!!

Day in the Life...of Travis Simmons

A day in the life of an author was
something I always thought to be magical. When I thought of my favorite
authors, I imagined them getting up to adoring servants who waited on them hand
and foot. After a luxurious morning they would float to their computer and
write brilliant things for their rabid fans (like me). They had complete
control of their muse, and inspiration just fell into their minds and through
their fingers with ease.

That
is certainly not how it works. I wake up (begrudgingly) around 6:30, normally
by a text from my sister. I am not sure how
this text wakes me up, people can bang on my door and I won’t wake, but the
phone vibrating under an unused pillow brings me out of a dead sleep? That is
highly unfair. I lay in bed for another 30 minutes or so checking CNN on my
tablet and chatting with friends. I refuse to get up at 6:30, even though I am
awake, I fight it. Sometimes I try going back to sleep, but that doesn’t
happen.

From
there, I make my coffee and get ready for the day. I don’t float to my
computer. I trudge to the office, flop in my chair and then surf facebook for a
while, wondering what I will write about that day. Inspiration sometimes falls
into my head, and sometimes I am able to rip out a couple thousand words effortlessly.
More often, however, you can find me writing a paragraph, and then checking friend’s
statuses. It seriously is a process and I am my worst boss ever.

The
amount of things that can distract me from writing is astounding. I am honestly
surprised I ever get any work done. Somehow, though, when I start working on a
book I seem to finish it in a little over a month. I can’t even imagine how
many books I could publish if I was more vigilant.

I
would equate the writing process with an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond
when Deborah wants to write a children’s book with Ray. He finally agrees to
help her and they go down to the basement to work. He sits at his computer,
plays a game (for me it is World of Warcraft) and then does a myriad of other
silly things that distract him from writing before he unwillingly starts.

Sometimes
I know what I want to say, but everything sounds wrong. Sometimes how the
characters act is brilliant, and then other times it’s like I’m forcing them
into something and they are digging their heels in screaming “noooooo!”

Other
times I can write something and think it is garbage, only to find later I
really liked it and can’t find it anywhere. That is what I am going through at the
moment. I thought of a paranormal teen book, wrote out the outline and even
some of the first chapter. I hated the character interaction, but I kept it,
but now I can’t find it, which makes me pretty sad.

It
isn’t that writing is a pain in the butt. I love writing. I love discovering
and creating, but I think I like having written more than I like actually
writing. It can be pretty painful at times.

Thank you Travis for being on the blog today. I hope you all enjoyed the guest post and getting a glimpse into his author life. Below you will find info about the book and the author also the giveaway!

With the death of one of the companions, Grace must answer for the secrets she’s kept. The path before them is ever lengthening in their quest for Amber. There are changes they all must face, and when Joya enters her trials of sorcery, danger lurks around every corner. The power within Angelica and Jovian is strengthening and with it comes confusion. What are they? It is painfully obvious nothing like them has ever existed before. Why is it at times they seem more one person than two separate people? With all the mystery surrounding their latent power, Angelica stumbles upon a passage in a book of sorcery indicating she is evil. Could she be the Mask prophecy speaks of? Is she destined to turn against her own flesh? To make matters worse, the Well of Wyrding (a giant well that controls all sorcery) has been breached and wyrd itself is spiraling into chaos.

I have been writing since I was 14. I began writing a book called "The Calling of the Two" and while writing that on and off I started uncovering another idea.
"Yes, this is all well and good, but what about before? What happened in the world before these characters came into it?" I always knew there was a "before" and as I started wondering about it I got ideas. At first they were little ideas but as I discovered the names for my characters a whole story about them emerged.
I started working on The Revenant Wyrd Saga several years back and I am very happy I did because hearing and documenting Jovian and Angelica's story has been one wild ride.
I live in a remote part of upstate New York and honestly just hoofing around my neck of the woods gives me a ton of inspiration for my novels. I love research, and I love speculating on different ideas and theories.